Draft:William Russell Strassner

William Russell Strassner (1901 – ?) was the president of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1951 to 1962.

He graduated from Arkansas Baptist College, Virginia Union University, and Andover-Newton Theological School. He led Baptist congregations in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Boston, Massachusetts. He then became dean of religion at Bishop College in Marshall, Texas and in 1951 became dean of the School of Religion at Shaw University.

He wrote to Martin Luther King Jr. regarding an open dean position.